The unofficial Shadow Defender Support Thread.

Discussion in 'sandboxing & virtualization' started by Cutting_Edgetech, Feb 14, 2011.

  1. pinso

    pinso Registered Member

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    That forum doesn't seem to like technical question, i too had mentioned few things in other Giveaways but it never got mentioned in the comment section.
    Guess they only like to post good comments.
     
  2. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

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    Thank you Shadow Defender.
    My neighbour is building an extension I discovered from a planning letter today. However the plans don't show the actual measurements, they are scaled.
    So I fired up SD, downloaded the free Adobe Reader and used its measurements tool which rather cleverly interprets all the scaling into metres etc.Now I know how much sunlight I may lose.

    Then I restarted machine and it never happened.:)

    My usual PDF reader Sumatra can do very basic measuring only (Tap M key when on something you want to measure in a pdf)
     
  3. login123

    login123 Registered Member

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    Having a Problem using Shadow Defender:

    I'm using Shadow Defender v-1.5.0.726 paid, windows 10, MBR disk, no secure boot, no fast startup, SD was started with windows already running, shadowed C/ only, not using RAM, windows defender is the only AV.

    For a test I entered shadow mode, copied a couple of small text files to C/ drive, and restarted. Not turn off but restart. What happens is that something like check disk automatically starts when I restart the computer. Check disk (or whatever it is) will then run for a very long time.

    The computer is now stopped at white letters on a black screen, saying "Scanning and repairing drive (C): 100% complete". Little dots whirling, No cursor. The indicator light is showing no hdd activity. Been that way about 3 hours now. I don't think it will stop unless I do a hard reset with the power switch. Don't want to because if I remember correctly this caused problem last time I did it.

    Maybe I have overlooked something? Any help appreciated.
     
  4. Mr.X

    Mr.X Registered Member

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    Perhaps a failing HDD if one is being used.
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2021
  5. login123

    login123 Registered Member

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    Thanks.
    It is an HDD. It's quite new, and I just have run chkdsk a couple of days ago, no errors found.
    Can you recommend a software to check it more thoroughly?
     
  6. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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  7. Wendi

    Wendi Registered Member

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    Did you run "chkdsk c: /r" (cmd prompt > run as administrator > chkdsk c: /r) ?

    PS:
    Have you ever incurred a similar issue when your HDD was not in shadow mode?
    Do you have image-backups of your HDD on an external drive?
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2021
  8. login123

    login123 Registered Member

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    One important reason I posted this was to see if anyone else is having issues with Shadow Defender and win 10. Guess not, or they would have said so by now.

    Osaban. Thanks for the recommendation, I shall try it.

    Wendi. Thanks, yes, I ran "chkdsk c: /r" before that post above, and again earlier today. Both showed no problems.
    Also today I ran SFC /scannow. It found and fixed a couple of issues.
    Both times this happened when coming out of shadow mode, and it has not happened unless coming out of shadow mode.
    Yes, the image backups are on an external USB drive.

    I tried to restore the original image using the macrium boot USB but it wouldn't work. Error code 9, said it couldn't find the target disk.

    The black screen / whirling dots is not chkdsk, seems to be some sort of automatic repair function. It never did shut off. After about 6 hours I shut the computer off with the power switch. Waited 5 minutes, powered it on, and there is the black screen / dots again for about 2-4 seconds. Wouldn't boot up. Brain had stalled by that time, don't remember all the troubleshooting options i tried.

    I finally reinstalled windows through the troubleshooter, took 3 tries, and when it finished C: drive was inaccessible, the product key was missing and Windows defender wouldn't start. When I changed the user permissions for c: drive, that made it accessible but most of the file associations were messed up.

    Anyway, thanks for the recommendations. I haven't the foggiest idea what's going on with this beast. If any other's have suggestions I'll try them. If not, the latest plan is to:
    1. Assess the health of the HDD, then reinstall a shiny new copy of win 10 purchased from Amazon or somebody.
    Or,
    2. Just bang the computer with a hammer until it starts working.
    Either option should be immensly satisfying. :)
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2021
  9. Wendi

    Wendi Registered Member

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    @login123, at this point it sounds to me as if the MBR is infected or corrupted. So before resorting to a fresh install of Windows (or the hammer!) I suggest first downloading TDSSKiller (to a UFD) and running it to detect/remove any rootkit or the like. Then you might download and use AOMEI Partition Assistant to rebuild the MBR. Good luck!
     
  10. login123

    login123 Registered Member

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    Wendi, I think you are right, it probably was the MBR.

    But the problem is fixed now!!
    After changing the user permissions for c/, I tried my Macrium boot USB and It worked, restored the computer to full functioning.
    It had failed before, but I figured there was nothing to lose, so tried it again, this time successfully.

    The only thing I can figure is that black screen / whirling dots thing had made c/ inaccessible, so Macrium couldn't install the image.
    After manually changing the user access permissions Macrium was able to restore the image from the external HDD.

    I still intend to run the disk assessment software, in case all this changing actually has messed up the disk.

    I'm taking the hammer back out to the garage.

    Thanks again. :)
     
  11. Wendi

    Wendi Registered Member

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    @login123, I'm glad to hear that your system is now operational. Because chkdsk c: /r did not report/correct any problems i do not believe your HDD has physical issues. In any case, quoting Shakespeare, "All's Well That Ends Well".
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2021
  12. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    I refreshed the hardware on one of my computers this week to a budget AMD Ryzen 5 cpu with B450 MB. I'm still running windows 10 Pro. What version SD do you all recommend? Are there any settings that need changed in Windows or the UEFI for SD to work properly? Do we still need to disable fast startup?
     
  13. sdmod

    sdmod Shadow Defender Expert

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    Shadow Defender page

    Q : Why Shadow Mode works only if I restart the computer? If I shut down the computer, all changes remain after reboot.
    Fast startup is turned on by default in Windows 8/10. When it is turned on, Windows will take hibernation instead of shut down, so after reboot all changes will remain. To discard all changes made in shadow mode after shut down, please disable fast startup.
     
  14. Azure Phoenix

    Azure Phoenix Registered Member

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    Well, that explains why I never had issue with fast startup. I always restart instead of shutting down.
     
  15. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    Thanks sdmod. I'll be sure to turn fast startup off.

    What version are you all running or which version seems the most stable?
     
  16. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Same here. I always even when testing really rough malware always rebooted away from that mess. And Shadow Defender returned a neat clean fresh slate as though nothing harmful ever run at all.

    There was a one-off once where a particularly clever coded malware (ransomware) encrypted even every file in Shadow Defender's Program Files folder that seemed harrowing at the time. And that's because it locked up the system from being able to manually reboot. In that frantic situation i placed trust that SD could still wipe it out on a hard reset. Which it successfully did.

    Apparently on that test, the Fast Startup was already turned off. Otherwise whoo whee if not.
     
  17. pvsurfer

    pvsurfer Registered Member

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    I've been running the current version (1.5.0.726) ever since its release (Aug. 2020) and it has been as stable as the Rock of Gibraltar.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
  18. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    I see where some here like the old 1.4.0.519 version but it's great to hear the latest version is stable for you. I'll install it after dinner and give it a whirl.
     
  19. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Hi @innerpeace

    Always good to see you again. SD is still one of those time tested solid programs and hope it proves useful for you too.
     
  20. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    Hello Easter

    I hope you are well. I've been using Shadow Defender and Sandboxie for so long I wouldn't know how to use my PC without them installed.

    Edit: I have a couple more questions now that I have SD installed.

    1. How can we tell if Shadow Defender is registered? I entered my key but I don't see anything in the program about it being registered.

    2. I use a ram disk for my sandboxie folder. Should I also run the R:\Sandboxie drive in shadow mode? I also use ram for SD if that matters. I should have took screenshots of my old config before building this new PC.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
  21. pvsurfer

    pvsurfer Registered Member

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    While build 519 (released in Apr 2014) delivered a significant improvement in the protection SD afforded, it does not support Windows 10. Tony made that quite clear in several builds that eventually followed with changes to support Windows 10 as it evolved.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
  22. pvsurfer

    pvsurfer Registered Member

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    1. When SD is running click on 'About' in its main interface. If you see the name you used when registering SD you are good to go.

    2. Why would you run both SD and Sandboxie concurently?
     
  23. innerpeace

    innerpeace Registered Member

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    Thanks for the info on build 519.

    1. In the About I see a version number. Below it I see User which is my admin account name on all my PCs. No idea if it pulled the name from a SD account or from that PC or from my older PCs since they are all the same. And below it I see organization which I left blank when entering my key tonight. The good news is I don't see anywhere in the app to enter a key.

    2. I like the layers both programs provide. Plus I only use SD on demand when I'm doing something I perceive as risky. Most of the time it's off while Sandboxie does all the heavy lifting.
     
  24. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    If i remember right @innerpeace after initial install reboot.
    Then when you start SD it would ask user to enter license number.
     
  25. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

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    @innerpeace
    Also using 1.5.0.726 along with latest builds of Sandboxie. Like you, it's second nature to use them together at times :)
     
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